Brake beam



G. LEVERENZ BRAKE BEAM Filed Feb. 11, 1.942

I INVENTOR.

Erneszt (flew/@122 BY AAA:

Patented Feb. 6, 1945 BRAKE BEAM Ernest G. Leverenz, Chicago, 111., assignor to American Steel Foundries, Chicago, 111., a corporation of New Jersey Application February 11, 1942, Serial No. 430,319

12 Claims.

My invention relates to brake beams and more particularly to a truss type brake beam wherein a tension and a compression member are connected to each other at the. ends thereof and are also connected by a strut intermediate said ends, said strut afiording a fulcrum for an associated brake lever.

An object of my invention is to provide a brake beam of truss type wherein the ends thereof are formed and arranged for the reception of wear pads or plates, said pads being formed and arranged for reception within guide brackets on an associated vehicle frame.

A specific object of my invention is to design a brake beam of the type above described wherein the ends thereof are of H-section, each of said ends comprising spaced upstanding webs and a web connected therebetween, said last-mentioned web and certain of said upstanding webs affording a seat for an associated brake head.

A further object of my invention is to provide a brake beam having an end portion of H-section as above described, the upstanding webs of which are sheared off so that the connecting web therebetween projects outwardly therefrom to form a 'seat for an associated wear pad.

My novel arrangement comprehends a U- shaped wear pad formed and arranged for reception therewithin of the connecting web of said end portion, said pad comprising a tongue received within the upstanding webs of said end portion, and said pad being of an over-all thickness substantially the same as that of one of said upstanding Webs whereby the tongue on said pad and said last-mentioned web afford a seat of substantially uniform thickness for an associated brake head.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a brake beam comprising my novel arrangement, one end of said beam being broken away inasmuch as it is identical at opposite ends thereof.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the structure shown in Figure 1, and Figure 3 is a side elevation thereof, the strut being removed in both of said figures in order to clarify the arrangement. I Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view in the vertical plane indicated by the line 44 of Figure 1, the brake head and Wear pad being removed from the end of the beam.

Describing my invention in detail, the brake beam generally designated 2 comprises a compression member 4 of T-shape and having the webs 5 and 6 merging at right angles to each other, said compression member merging with a 36 in well known manner.

tension member 8 of generally rectangular shape to form with said compression member at each end thereof an end portion 9 of H-section comprising spaced webs l0 and I2 joined by an integral web I4 comprising a groove I6 adjacent its juncture with the web 12. It. may be noted that the Web ID is a continuation of the web 6 of the compression member and is relatively thin as compared with the weblZ- which is a continuation of the tensionmember 8 as will be readily understood from a consideration of Figures 1 and 4. The webs l0 and I2 are shearedoif as at l8,

l8 so that the web l4 extends outwardly therefrom to afford a seat for a U-shaped wear pad 20 fitted over the end thereof. The wear pad 20 is offset as at 22 and comprises a tongue portion 24 received between the webs Ill and I2.

It may be noted that the plate 20 has an overall thickness substantially the same as the height of the web [2 so thatsaid plate and said web afford aseat of substantially uniform thickness for a brake head generally designated 38 and secured thereto as hereinafter more fully described.

A strut 26 is connected between the tension and compression members intermediate the ends thereof and comprises a 'jaw 28 receiving therewithin the tension member 8 and a yoke '30 through which may extend the compression memher 4, said member being secured therewithin as at 32, and the strut also comprises a slot 34 for the reception of an associated brake lever, said lever being pivotally secured therewithin asat The brake head 38 comprises at each end thereof the spaced toe lugs 42, 42 connected by the bridge 44 and interme diate lugs 46, 46 slotted as at 41, 41, said lugs being formed and arranged for securement thereto in the usual manner of an associated brake shoe (not shown). The brake head also comprises a slot 48 defined by top and bottom webs 50 and 52, said webs having bosses 54 and 56for accommodation of rivets 58, 58 extending therethrough to secure within the slot 48 the associated end portion 9 of the brake beam 2 as well as a portion of the wear plate 20 as willvbe placed in position with the slot 48 receiving therewithin the web l2 and a portion of the wear pad including the tongue 24, and thereafter said head may be secured by the rivets 58, 58.

Thus it will be seen that I have designed a slipped thereover.

It is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited by the exact embodiment of the device v shOWn which is merely by way of illustration and not limitation as various and other forms of the device will, of course, be apparent'to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. In a brake beam, a compression member, a tension member merging therewith to form end portions and a strut connected between said members, each of said end portions comprising spaced upstanding webs and an intermediate web connecting said first-mentioned webs, said intermediate web being projected outwardly of said upstanding webs to form-a guide lug adapted for reception in a guide bracket on an associated vehicle nframe, a U-shaped wear pad positioned on the end of said intermediate web, said pad comprising a tongue extending between said upstanding webs and being of the same over-all thickness as one of said upstanding webs whereby a seat of uniform thickness is provided for an associated brake head by said pad and said last-mentioned web.

2. In a brake beam, a compression member, a tension member merging therewith to form and portions each being of H-section and comprising a horizontal web, a relatively tall and thin vertical web, and a spaced relatively short and thick vertical web, a U-shaped wear pad fitted over the end of said horizontal web and extending between said vertical webs, said pad having an over-all thickness equal to the height of said relatively short vertical web, a brake head com- I prising a recess receiving therewithin said lastmentioned web and a portion of said Wear pad. and means securing said head to said beam.

3. In a brake beam, a compression member, a tension member merging therewith to form end portions, and'a strut connected between said members, each of said end portions being of H-section and comprising spaced upstanding said members intermediate said portions, each oi said portions comprising spacedupstanding webs and a web connecting said first-mentioned webs intermediate the tops and bottoms thereof and projecting outwardly therefrom, and a wear pad secured to the end of the last-mentioned web.

5. In a brake beam, tension and compression members merging at corresponding ends thereof to form end portions, a strut connected between said members intermediate said portions, each of said portions comprising a horizontal web and spaced upstanding webs terminated short of the end of said horizontal web, and a wear pad secured tothe end of said horizontal web and comprising a portion extending between said upstanding webs.

6. In a brake beam, a compression member, a tension member merging therewith to form end portions of H-section each comprising spaced upstanding webs and a web connected therebetween and extending outwardly therefrom, a U-shaped wear pad fitted over the endof said last-mentioned web and extending between said upstanding webs, a brake head associated with each end portion, and means securing said head to said portion and to the associated pad.

'7. In a brake beam, a compression member, a tension member merging therewith to form end portions of H-section, a wear pad secured to each of said portions and formed and arranged for reception within an associated guide bracket, and brake heads secured to the associated portions and to the associated pads.

8. In a brake beam, a compression member of T-section, a tension member of rectangular section merging at opposite ends of the beam with said compression-member to form end portions of H-sectio-n, each comprising spaced webs joined by a transverse web extending therebetween, and a wear pad secured to said transverse web.

9. In a brake beam, a compression member of T-section, a tension member of rectangular section merging at opposite ends of the beam with said compression member to form end portions of H-sectio-n, each comprising spaced webs joined by a transverse web extending therebetween, and a wear pad secured to said transverse web, a portion of said pad extending between said spaced webs.

10. In a brake beam, a compression member of T-section, a tension member of rectangular section merging at opposite ends of the beam with said compression member to form end portions of H-section, each comprising spaced webs joined by a transverse web extending therebetween, and a wear pad secured to said transverse web with a portion of said pad extending between said spaced webs, said portion having an over-all thickness substantially equal to the height of one of the spaced webs.

11. In a brake beam, a compression member of T-section, a tension member of rectangular section merging at opposite ends of the beam with said compression member to form end portions of H-section, and wear pads secured to said end portions and extending longitudinally outwardly from the ends of the beam.

12. In a brake beam, tension and compression members merging at corresponding ends thereof to form end portions, each'comprising a transverse web and a pair of spaced webs merging therewith at substantially right angles thereto, and a wear pad secured to said transverse web, a portion of said pad extending between said spaced webs and being'of an over-all thickness substantially equal to the height of at least one of the spaced webs.

ERNEST G. LEVERENZ. 

